* Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred continues to sound upbeat when it comes to the Rays stadium saga. “Hats off to the governments in St. Pete and Tampa,” said Manfred. “They have given Stu Sternberg, the owner of the Rays, the ability to look on either side of the causeway to find the site that’s best for the team.”
We’ll take the optimistic tone, although it’s now old news. Meaningful progress beyond looking around Tampa Bay would be a real “hats off” occasion.
* Speedy new Bucs wide receiver DeSean Jackson is not your basic game breaker. He’s also a producer of the many-years-in-the-making biopic “All Eyez on Me” about the late Tupac Shakur. Los Angeles native Shakur was a rapper, hip-hop artist and activist whose songs typically revolved around violence and racism.
Jackson, who also was born in Los Angeles, acknowledged in a Tampa Bay Times interview his identification with Shakur. Not discussed with Jackson: The movie is actually narrated by Shakur from prison–where he had been serving time for a sexual assault conviction. Hardly a footnote.